Xiaomi and Qualcomm have both taken a bemusing turn in the naming of their next flagship products: the Xiaomi 17 smartphone and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip that will run on it.

Let’s start with the Xiaomi 17. Last year’s model was named the Xiaomi 15, and there’s no unlucky element to the number 16 in Chinese culture (that I know of). What gives?

Xiaomi president Lu Weibing has issued a Weibo post announcing (via machine translation) that “The all-new Xiaomi 17 series will be released this month.”

We also get confirmation that the line-up will consist of the Xiaomi 17, the Xiaomi 17 Pro, and the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max.

Interestingly, the executive also confirms why the number skip. You might have guessed it yourself.

“Five years ago, we embarked on our premium strategy, learning from our greatest competitor and resolutely benchmarking against the iPhone,” he explains. “To this day, Apple continues to excel. The success of the iPhone 17 series is evident to everyone, but we remain confident, which is why we are directly competing with the iPhone in the same generation and at the same level.”

In effect, Xiaomi doesn’t want its new flagship phones to be perceived as being a step behind the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. To which it’s tempting to respond, perhaps you shouldn’t have copied its naming scheme so closely in the first place, then.

Xiaomi 17 Pro Max second display confirmed

Talking of the newly dubbed Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, Xiaomi has separately confirmed (albeit accidentally) that its new flagship phone will indeed feature a secondary display on the back.

The company posted the following image (via Gizmochina) to its Weibo account, before swiftly pulling it down.

It’s giving us major flip phone cover display vibes, a la the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 (or indeed the Xiaomi Mi Mix Flip).

This secondary display was tipped last week in a separate leak. As we pointed out at the time, this wouldn’t be the first time Xiaomi has included such a design flourish. Back in 2021, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra featured a rear display, albeit much smaller.

Qualcomm confuses us all

Going back to that Xiaomi name change, at least there’s a clear market-led reason behind the decision. The same can’t be said for the chip that’s going to run those same Xiaomi 17 phones.

In separate news, Qualcomm has announced its next-generation flagship smartphone System on Chip (SoC), and its name is more than a little confusing.

The chip that will presumably power the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, the OnePlus 15, and a whole bunch of Android devices, throughout much of 2026, will be the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

Of course, the fact that this had been leaked in certain quarters does nothing to make this announcement any less confusing. Last year’s chip was the Snapdragon 8 Elite, after all.

Qualcomm explains (kind of)

Which is probably why Qualcomm has committed an entire blog post to explaining it. The very first question Qualcomm asks itself here is instructive: “Why Gen 5? Didn’t we skip a few?” Well, quite.

“Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 marks the fifth generation of our premium 8-series platforms since we introduced our new single digit naming and visual identity,” explains Don McGuire, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer for Qualcomm.

None the wiser? Don’t worry, there’s more: “By aligning with Gen 5, we’re reinforcing its leadership position and simplifying how consumers understand our product roadmap.” Nope, still not getting it.

“Think of it like this: Gen 5 isn’t just a number. It’s a signal that this platform leads the family forward.” So there you go. Clear as mud.